Pride and Prejudice
by Kumara and Bacon
Summary: Malfoy seems to be acting a bit unusual around Harry. Inspiration came from Pride and Prejudice, hence the title. HPDM
1. Chapter 1

Title: Summer Dances

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Malfoy seems to be acting a bit unusual around Harry. Some ideas have been taken from Pride and Prejudice. HPDM

Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *

Summer Dances

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

Harry dipped his feet into the lake and watched as Ron threw off his t-shirt and jumped into the vast amount of water. Hermione stood next to it, seeming to decide whether or not she desired a swim. She allowed one of her toes to touch the water, which felt warm and luxurious. Her hands slowly took her shirt off, revealing that she was sporting a one-piece swimsuit. Harry looked to Ron, whose disappointment was evident on every pore of his face. It didn't take a genius to know that he felt anxious to see Hermione wearing something a tad more revealing.

Soon, Hermione and Ron were splashing each other, and some of the clear water danced on Harry's clothes. "Join us, Harry," Hermione called. Harry shook his head, smiling as he watched the two from a distance

Tonight, a summer party was to be held here, at the lake a couple miles from the Burrow. The event was somewhat formal, for everyone was to be wearing dresses and suits; it was held outside due to the beautiful weather they had been having recently; summer air felt cool and refreshing; fruits that pleased your tongue was now in season. Mrs. Weasley said they could all come this year since they were all nearly of age. Neither Ron or Harry felt particularly excited about the event, but Hermione and Ginny were, and the boys were to come to dance with them.

Wizards began arriving to set up the decorations, looking at the teenagers in dismay. He guessed that someone would ask them to leave any minute now, and half an hour passed before his predication came true: A surly faced man, with black hair and thick, square spectacles came over to the three. "Sorry, but we need you three to leave as we prepare for the dance."

"Okay," Harry replied as he waved his friends to come out of the lake. For a moment, the man stood there, with a look of growing incredulity on his face; Harry raised an eyebrow at him, and the man shook his head, muttering, "I must be growing crazy," before turning around and going back to his crew.

On the trek back to the Burrow, Hermione chattered excitedly about the dance. "Oh! How I can't wait! Ginny and I have beautiful summer dresses to wear," she said, stressing Ginny's name, and Harry nearly rolled his eyes at her lack of subtlety. Hermione believed Ginny and Harry would be great for each other, but Hermione was biased since Ginny was also one of her best friends; the only three people to believe the two were destined for the other was Ginny, Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley. Most of the time, however, Harry ignored this. He decided he would dance a few rounds with Ginny that night, but he did not plan on anything further. If Ginny were ever blunt about her intentions with him, he would be honest and tell her that he didn't feel the same way; but, if she continued just flicking hints at him every-so-often, Harry felt that ignoring her feelings would do just fine.

XOXOXOXO

They arrived at the summer dance nearly thirty minutes after it began; Hermione insisted that coming on time wasn't acceptable; apparently, no one goes to these dances on time. It hardly amused Harry to see the point was not lost on Ginny, for she thought forty-five minutes late was more suitable, but Harry felt weary of the dance and persuaded Ginny to see his side.

Immediately, Hermione remarked at the strong enchantments on the area. Surrounding the whole acre, perhaps even two, was a concealing charm. This concealing charm, however, was a magnified version of the original for it was concealing all the magic in the area; therefore, if any stray muggle happened to wander close-by, they'd see nothing unusual.

Above them floated pink and white lilies, and tiny fairies fluttered in the air, casting light from within their bodies; Ginny felt awed at the sight and glanced at Harry. To her dislike, he was watching the buffet table.

Exactly why he was watching the buffet table, she did not know. He should be gaping at her, for she wore the prettiest dress there. Her dress was pink with thin straps, just below her bust was a thick, white sash tied in a bow; the dress ended just above her knees, similar to a baby-doll dress. When she and Hermione were shopping, Hermione assured her that Ginny looked divine. Now Ginny wasn't so sure. "Harry, what are you looking at?" questioned Ginny.

Ginny smiled as Harry's eyes suddenly rested on her face; his eyes did not hold any form of adoration, but shock—as if he had be doing something wrong. This escaped Ginny's notice.

"What are you looking at?" she repeated.

"Malfoy's here," he said, his voice soaked in disgust. "Of all places he would be, he had to be here. Just bloody brilliant," he exclaimed, crossing his arms on his chest.

The smile playing on her lips faltered before saying, "Just ignore him." Then, her smile splattered across her face once more as a new song began. "Dance with me, Harry," she more stated than asked.

Harry somewhat happily obliged.

Every so often, while he and Ginny were swirling around the dance area, his eyes would unexpectedly meet with Draco's. Not once or twice, but a grand total of seven times. Harry never meant to make eye contact with Draco, and the harder he tried not to, the more he did, until finally, the song stopped.

As the song stopped, Harry and Ginny ceased spinning around the lake; Ginny's face formed a frown as Harry walked over to Hermione, who seemed to have a group formed around her.

She was conversing with Slytherins, and she appeared to be enjoying herself. There she stood, surrounded by Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy, and Pansy Parkinson, who clung herself to Draco's right arm. Draco eyed him. "What are you doing here, Potter?"

"Trying to enjoy myself, thanks," he replied. He turned to Hermione, "D'you want to walk around the lake?" Which, if she didn't notice, and she didn't, was her chance to break away from the snakes and not get poisoned.

"No, thanks, Harry," she said, not looking at him as she said it. Instead, she was gazing into Zabini's eyes, grinning whilst doing so.

"I'll take that walk with you, Potter," Draco said, his mouth forming what could be called a smile, except, it didn't seem all that warm. To an outsider, it would appear to be a nervous one. However, Harry wasn't an outsider, so this he did not notice.

"No, that's okay, Malfoy," Harry said, "You should be with your girlfriend." Quickly, Harry walked away and involuntarily glanced over his shoulder at Malfoy. He couldn't believe that Malfoy had wanted to stroll around the lake with him, and why would Malfoy think that Harry would want to talk with him? Because of this, Harry concluded that Malfoy had temporarily forgotten how he felt about Harry because of the summer heat and the situation. And when the dance ended, Ginny, Ron, and Harry met up with Hermione, who was standing rather close to Zabini, and blushed when she realized her friends stood behind her

Then, Malfoy appeared sans Pansy, another smile glued to his face. "Goodnight, Potter," he said, his voice appearing as smooth as melted chocolate in a fondue pot, but Harry took it as a trick played by his tired mind. As far as Harry could recall, Malfoy had not send one vicious word all evening… He could not imagine why; it was somewhat difficult to be mean to someone without cause.

"Goodnight," Harry said, turning to Hermione. "Let's go."

Hermione shot him a glare, before wishing Zabini a wonderful night.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'd like a review, please :)

Disclaimer: Not mine.

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September 1st

_"I wandered lonely as a Cloud  
That floats on high o'er Vales and Hills."—William Wordsworth_

"Ron! Put your underwear back in the trunk!" cried Mrs. Weasley. Rouge traveled from Ron's neck to his ears as he hastily shoved his pair of gray boxers into his trunk, clearly thinking that his mother wasn't looking at him when she did. Ginny giggled; Hermione rolled her eyes. Harry continued starting out the kitchen window.

He would miss this… His last summer at the Burrow before returning to Hogwarts. His mind never settled on his last year of Hogwarts that summer; everytime Hermione or Ron brought it up, he changed the topic; simply, he had no desire to think about it. Life at Hogwarts was usually good to him. Sure, some people didn't like him, most probably hated him at one time or another, but the point is this: After Hogwarts, what would happen to him? What if he never found a job? What if he never found someone to love unconditionally, who would also love him back? Within the walls of Hogwarts, he had no need to worry about such things; he didn't need a job or fret over uncovering a significant other. Right now, he was still in his youth and needn't worry. Once he left Hogwarts, he'd step into the Real World. Everything would change.

Would he still be friends with Ron and Hermione? He could see multiple events happening after their graduation that would cause them to lose contact. In fact, some people just fade out with no particular reason for their disappearance. Could it be possible that they would just slowly fade out from his life like a song ending on the radio?

"Harry," Hermione said, her voice not quite a whisper, "it's time to go," and with a final snap of the lid, his summer at the Burrow was officially over.

XOXOXOXO

"Potter. You're stepping on my robes."

No reply. No movement. None.

"Potter."

Repeat.

"Potter… POTTER! Get your fucking feet of my robes!" yelled Malfoy, grabbing a handful of his robes, attempting to pull them out from under Harry's feet. Harry snapped out of his reverie and stepped aside. "Dreaming about that mudblood of yours, eh, Potter?"

"No, I was just thinking about why Snape gives you A's in Potions… You're clearly inferior to Hermione, yet her grades falsely show otherwise…"

"What the hell are you getting at?"

"Think about it," he said, getting onto the train with Hermione and Ron, who had said their goodbyes to the Weasleys, while Harry argued with Malfoy.

Just as the trio shut the door, it was opened again by the blonde. "How dare you!" Malfoy snarled. Harry raised an eyebrow, suggesting he hadn't done anything. "Just because you can't seem to get a decent grade in Potions, doesn't mean I cheat to get mine!"

"I never said that," Harry retorted.

Malfoy stood steaming at Harry, their eyes boring into each other like candle flames to marshmallows. Malfoy clenched and unclenched his fists, seemingly unable to decide whether or not to take action.

"If you're just going to stare at me, I suggest you just leave," Harry said.

"Or get a picture," Ron suggested.

"Shut up," Hermione hissed to Ron, who desired watching this dispute play out uninterrupted by outside forces.

Malfoy glared at the other two before returning his eyes to Harry. "See you in class," he spat and left.

"Well, that was bizarre," Hermione exclaimed.

"Wonder why he didn't punch you," Ron said.

"Yeah…" Harry said, turning his eyes towards the window.

XOXOXOXO

Down the hall, the lady with refreshments could be heard. "Pumpkin pasties, anyone?" she called. Harry heard her and asked his friends whether they wanted something. So, with a few galleons in hand, he left his compartment to buy a few goodies from the refreshments lady.

"Anything off the trolley, dear?" she asked Harry.

"Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans," Harry said in unison with someone, whose voice came from beside him. Harry glanced to his right to see that Malfoy had requested the same item as he did at the same time. The lady then pointed out that she had only one bag left.

"I thought she was talking to me," Malfoy said.

"Oh, well… um… You can have the beans," Harry said, scratching his neck.

"No, no, it's okay. You have them," he said, his cheeks speckled in pink.

"Alright then," Harry said, taking the beans along with a few chocolate frogs and pumpkin pasties. As he put the change back into his pockets, Malfoy had purchased his own treats.

"So, what's your favorite flavor of Bertie Bottos?" he asked, while they walked down the hallway.

"I dunno… Strawberry's nice."

"Yeah."

"Well, I'll see you in school then," Harry said as he placed his hand on the handle that slides the compartment doors open.

"Wait," Malfoy cried.

Harry paused, turning the upper half of his body around to look at the other boy.

"Want to join me in my compartment?"

"No… That's okay, thanks," Harry said. "See you in school." After his goodbye, he came back into his own compartment, much to Ron's delight, who never missed a chance at consuming chocolate frogs.

Harry sat next to the window, with a chocolate frog in hand. His face appeared fairly blank as he fiddled with the wrapper.

"Something wrong, Harry?" Hermione asked, taking a chocolate frog herself.

As Harry's frog broke free from the wrapper, it hopped onto the window and flew out. He then answered, "No, no… Nothing at all," not bothering to attain another frog. His appetite seemed to have evaporated.

He watched the scenery pass by; the weather transformed numerously, unable to decide what mood it was in. Throughout the whole journey, it was stormy, windy, sunny, cloudy, and foggy. Hermione and Ron found no interest in the topic of unusual weather; although, Hermione did mention that they were passing through different parts of the country, and not everyone went through the same kinds of weather simultaneously.

"So, Hermione," Ginny said, grinning madly as she slid the compartment door open. "Blaise's just down the hall, and he's asking if you'd like to go over and join him."

A smile spread across Hermione's face. "Excuse me, boys," she said, getting up from her seat. "I have other businesses to attend to." Then, Ginny shut the compartment door as Hermione left.

"Ginny… What's going on between her and Zabini?" Ron asked.

"He's fallen for her; it's completely obvious."

"Does she like him, though?"

"That," Ginny said, "is not my place to tell."

Harry shook his head at Ron, thinking it obvious that Hermione liked Blaise, but it was just like Ron not to notice. For Ron's peace of mind, however, he kept quiet.

"She can't like him, though, right, Harry? I mean, he's a Slytherin. She can't like a Slytherin, can she?" he pondered out loud, not really talking to Harry. It was then that Harry wondered whether he should tell Ron to make a fast move on Hermione before Zabini takes her. Yet, if Harry knew Ron at all, which he did, he knew that Ron wouldn't make a move on Hermione, despite his strong affections for her. He needed someone who would make a move on him. Ron, in his odd way, would be the female in a relationship.

For the rest of the train ride, Ron became quiet, thinking and thinking about the Blaise-Hermione situation, giving Harry no one to talk to but Ginny, so when the train came to a stop in front of Hogwarts, he couldn't help but give a sigh of relief.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Not mine.  
****  
A/N: Sorry that it's been so long from my last update. Major writer's block. But now I'm back. :) However, it'll be at least 1-2 weeks until my next update. I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to animerocksjapanrocks for sending me PMs that encouraged me to write more. **

It is now late October in the story.

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_"By the twitching of my thumbs,  
Something wicked this way comes."  
-Macbeth, Shakespeare_

Weeks passed by uneventfully as if they were mindlessly floating by on tiny creek, flowing for the laugh of it, really heading off to nowhere. Harry hardly ever spoke to Malfoy anymore, which felt fine by him. Ever since the summer dance, Malfoy had been acting strange towards him. Nice, even? Well, not particularly nice, but he couldn't say that anything he had done recently could be classified as mean. Just awkward. Everything about Malfoy felt weird now.

Ron never missed a chance at abusing Malfoy behind his back, and Hermione would nod along when Ron went through one of his rants. Even Hermione changed now. She spent less time in the commons, helping them less with homework. She disappeared for a couple of hours at a time, a few times a week; she told Ron she was spending some quality time with some of her female friends—Harry suspected that this "quality time" was being spent with Zabini, but if Hermione didn't want to tell him so, then that was her right.

Currently, Harry sat next to the window of the Gryffindor commons, focusing on a Potions assignment.

"Stop it, Harry," Ron grunted.

"Hm.?"

"Your pencil. Stop tapping it."

Harry peered down; he was tapping his pencil on the table. He hadn't even noticed. As Ron demanded, he ceased tapping it.

Then, he began tapping his right foot.

"Ron."

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm going to go for a walk. I can't focus."

"Harry, it's due tomorrow."

"I know. I think I need to take a break, get some fresh air, maybe get a snack."

"Okay. Get me some butterbeer if you pass by the kitchens, 'kay?"

"Okay."

Before going outside, Harry took a detour to the kitchens. Most people didn't know this, but people could actually get muggle candy from the kitchens. Usually, Harry would request for Mars Bars, but he felt like Peanut M&M's today. As per normal, the house elves were overly kind and polite and gave Harry whatever he wanted, which were those Peanut M&M's.

So, Harry shoved the candy into the pockets of his gray sweatshirt, and shuffled outside. Cool air sped down his lungs, cleansing his mind temporarily free from the Potions essay on mandrake roots.

With his hands in his pockets, he tore the top off of the wrapper, while slowly walking to the tree beside the lake. When he reached it, he sat down, popping a candy or two in his mouth every-so-often. His chewing sounded deafening compared to the soothing waves of the lake.

"Hey, Potter," came a voice, and Harry turned to see Malfoy standing there. "Cold night, isn't it?" he said, rubbing his arms.

"Yeah, a bit," Harry replied, turning his eyes back to the lake.

"Mind if I sit here?"

"No."

"Okay," Malfoy said as he sat beside Harry.

After a few seconds, Malfoy began twiddling his thumbs. Then, he eyed Harry's candy. A sigh came from his lips.

"Can I have one?" Malfoy asked.

"It's muggle candy."

"So?"

"So, you don't like muggle candy."

"The crunching sound is addicting."

Harry took out his bag of Peanut M&M's and held it out to Draco. "You can have the rest," Harry said.

"No, I just want one to try."  
"Nah, there's not much left. Consider it payback for the time I took the last bag of Bertie Botts."

"Okay," Draco said, putting some of the candy in his mouth, his chewing causing the inevitable crunching noise.

Harry had to admit that it did sound rather addicting.

"How's your Potion's essay?" Draco asked, folding the empty wrapper, and placing it in his pocket.

"Not bad. I should finish tonight."

"You haven't finished yet? I've finished mine ages ago."

"I'd've finished mine ages ago too if I was doing the professor."

"Potter… I have tried being civil with you," Malfoy said, rising up. "What have I done to you recently?" He spun around and stormed off.

XOXOXOXOXO

When Harry came back to the commons, he found Ron tidying up his papers, clearly having just completed his assignments. "Sorry, mate, no butterbeer," Harry said, sitting back in his seat, not quite ready to resume his work. He felt like talking to Hermione about Malfoy. Had he really not been mean to Harry? Harry had begun to believe it was just his imagination. The Malfoy in the Real World wouldn't have gone this long without something vicious to say or do.

Now that Malfoy mentioned it, however, he was almost sure that his mind wasn't making up the kind of nice Malfoy. Hermione had an observant character; she could tell him about Malfoy from an outside perspective.

It was then that Hermione burst into the commons. She raised her hands above her head, eyes closed, her black sweater rising to expose her pale stomach. "Ohh, I'm so happy," she said to the two, bringing her arms back down and plopping onto a chair. "I've been asked to the Halloween Masquerade," she sighed, "by Blaise Zabini. It's going to be marvelous."

"That's great, Hermione," Harry said. Yes, he did feel pleased for Hermione. He didn't really like the Slytherins, anyone would know that, but Hermione would learn her lesson. As much as it was laughable, perhaps Zabini would be the one decent Slytherin that would treat Hermione right. Unless Zabini truly bugged him, Harry wouldn't do anything. Ron acted the opposite.

"Hermione! He's a Slytherin!"

"Yes, Ron, I know."

"A Slytherin!"  
"I know."

"You can't go out with a Slytherin!"  
"Why not? I've gotten to know him for the last few months. He's a great guy. It's not my fault you can't see that."

"He's the enemy!"

"I shouldn't have to justify this to you, but you're not my mom!"

"I bloody hell should be! You obviously can't tell the good guys from the bad ones!"

"Shut up, Ron!" she screamed, "Now, I'm going to bed. I'll talk to you when you're feeling rational." She then faced Harry. "Good luck with your essay. Goodnight."

"So… Harry, you going to the Masquerade?" Ron asked.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry for the long wait! It was my senior year of high school, so everything was chaotic! I was also attempting at writing nonfanfic stories. I find that I'm better with coming up with plotlines than actual writing. Oh well. I tried at least.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Not now. Not ever.

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Chapter Four

Harry fiddled with the arm of his dress robes. A string was desperately trying to escape into the punch bowl, and he tore it off, dropping it on the floor. He winced occasionally at the noise his classmates were making. Then, he wondered why he bothered coming to the Masquerade. He didn't have a date. He didn't want to dance with random girls all evening. He didn't want to eat party food. In fact, all of his friends were busy dancing, and he had no real purpose being here. "How boring," he muttered to himself.

Ron joined him at the punch bowl and grinned. "I think dancing with Parvati might make Mione jealous. Do you think it's working?"

Harry looked at Hermione, who was dancing with Blaise as if she had no worries in the world. No, Ron, I don't think you're making Hermione jealous. "Sure, Ron," came his reply.

"Harry," said a voice beside him. Harry turned his head to the right, only to see Draco Malfoy. Of course it was Draco Malfoy. Malfoy was everywhere nowadays. Harry couldn't even go pee without coming out of the bathroom stall to see Malfoy washing his hands in the sink right in front of his stall. How unnerving! What did Malfoy want?!

"I was wondering if you would like to dance with me," Malfoy said.

"Sure," he said. He said... sure. To dancing with Draco Malfoy. Has the world stopped spinning?

Malfoy's disposition changed slightly, as if he were on pure ecstasy, but he walked away without a word. Harry rolled his eyes at Malfoy's back. Why did Malfoy continuously want to dance with him? Did he want to show the world that The Boy Who Lived can't dance? Just then, Malfoy turned around, gesturing for him to follow. Harry sighed. One dance couldn't hurt.

And well... The dance wasn't half bad. If it were anyone else, Harry would be swooning right now. But it was Draco Malfoy. Harry doesn't swoon over Draco.

When the dance ended, Draco gave Harry a heart-warming smile. Harry smiled back, then made his return to the punch bowl. And a thought occurred to him. Why doesn't he just leave? And so he does.

He maneuvered around the wandering students, and then quickened his pace upon exiting the Great Hall.

"Oomph," he mumbled as he collided straight into the blonde. "Sorry."

"S'okay, Harry."

Harry. Malfoy kept calling him Harry.

"Well, I best be off," Malfoy exclaimed, his face flushed. "Bye, Harry."

Harry raised an eyebrow as Malfoy scurried away. Malfoy wasn't supposed to act flustered around Harry. It's a sign of weakness. What the hell was going on?

**November**

Harry walked into the library, being careful not to alert anyone of his presence. He was on a mission today. And today's mission meant not being found by Malfoy. If Malfoy was unable to find him today, he would scream with joy. But first, must find Hermione.

He meandered in and out of sections and shelves, around tables and students. Until, at last, in the very back, he spotted the top of someone's bushy brown hair, hidden behind a pile of books. Bingo.

He tiptoed to her table and sat beside her. "Hermione," he whispered fiercely to catch her attention. She jumped a little and looked at him.

"What?!" she whispered.

"Could you not focus on your homework for a minute?"

She nodded and put her quill down on the table. "What's up?" she seemed to shout.

Harry put his finger to his lips. "Shh."

"Oh right," she whispered. "What's up?"

"Have you noticed... That Malfoy is everywhere I am? He might even be here as we speak," he said, quickly jerking his head around the room, looking for Malfoy. He didn't seem to be there. Maybe his eyes missed him?

"No... I can't say I've noticed." She eyed him, who was looking around like a paranoid old man. "Maybe you should confront him about it if it bothers you so much?"

Harry nodded, but wasn't sure if that was something he actually wanted to do. He thanked Hermione for her not-so-helpful bit of advice and left.

It was then Harry left for the bathroom. He went to the one eyed gargoyle not far off from the library, said the password, and went right inside. He turned the knob at the stall and entered. Two moments later, as he was finishing up, he heard someone else come inside the bathroom and turn on the faucet. Harry flushed the toilet and went out of the stall, only to find himself face to face with Malfoy. Not only was it creepy to keep running into each other in the bathroom, but why was Malfoy always washing his hands and not doing anything else?

Harry went to a sink and made sure there was at least one sink between Malfoy and himself. Trying to avoid as much conversation as possible, Harry remained silent while he washed his hands. Draco, in agony during the silence, attempted at conversation. "You look nice today, Harry."

Blush crept onto Harry's cheeks, and he glanced down at Malfoy's shoes. "Nice shoes," he replied. Draco smiled, even though Harry wasn't looking at him.

"I'll see you later," he said and left the restroom.

In the meantime, Harry stood in front of the mirror, wondering what was nice about his appearance today.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I'm extremely sorry for the very, very long wait for this chapter, and I hope some of the people who read this over a year ago will still be loyal to this fic. I started college last fall, and I haven't really written any fanfic since last summer until recently. I'm hoping to finish this fanfic by next summer. Thanks to all my past readers, and welcome to the new ones! Hope you enjoy this and can forgive me for the long wait.

* * *

**Late November**

"_Dear to us are those who love us... but dearer are those who reject us as unworthy, for they add another life; they build a heaven before us whereof we had not dreamed, and thereby supply to us new powers out of the recesses of the spirit, and urge us to new and unattempted performances."  
__-Ralph Waldo Emerson_

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione cried as she stumbled into the Gryffindor common room. Everyone watched her enter the room, with tears streaming down her face, and fell silent. The boys' eyes widened in fear, and they decided that the library wasn't such a horrible place to take notes in after all, so they gathered their books and left. However, the girls were eager to eavesdrop and stayed behind, while they pretended to work on various homework assignments.

Hermione slumped next to Harry on the couch and pressed her head against his shoulder, sobbing. Harry wrapped his arm around her in a small attempt to provide some comfort. A few moments passed before she was calm enough to give him an explanation. "Blaise told me that he thought it was best if we didn't see each other anymore!" she nearly shrieked, magicking herself a tissue to wipe her nose. "I thought he really liked me."

He gave Hermione a hug, and she buried her face deeper into his shoulder. He wondered why Blaise would suddenly break Hermione's heart after parading her around school, like he had never been happier with anyone else in the entire world. There wasn't any person who couldn't see how much Blaise genuinely liked Hermione. No one had ever seen Blaise treat a lady that way before. Harry clenched his fists and held Hermione tighter. He would find a way to make this better.

XOXOXOXO

Today was Sunday, two days after Blaise broke up with Hermione, and the day after Ron starting making his moves on Hermione. Harry warned Ron that the insensitivity of this act would cause him to lose points with Hermione, but the boy was daft, and there was nothing Harry could do about it.

Harry was in the library, trying to find a book Hermione might enjoy reading to get her mind off of Blaise. He pretended that he wasn't embarrassed to be in the Romance Section, even when he heard two first year girls giggling behind him.

However, after ten minutes of searching, he gave up. All of novels sounded cliché. Hermione didn't deserve a cliché book, so he wandered over to the General Fiction Section, hoping to find something rewarding for Hermione's brilliant mind. Then, he heard a shrewd voice that he wouldn't mistake anywhere. Pansy Parkinson was sitting at a table behind the set of shelves he was standing at. She was talking to none other than Malfoy. Harry couldn't hear everything they were saying, so he cast a spell that allowed him to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"It's for the best, Pans," Malfoy explained, scratching notes onto his parchment.

"Yeah, but why couldn't you just leave him alone? He would've found out eventually." Parkinson peaked at Draco's notes, and then copied everything he wrote with a few minor adjustments.

"And let him get more attached to Granger? No, I think I've spared him this way. His misery is only temporary. He'll get over her."

Parkinson narrowed her eyebrows. "Maybe Granger just isn't overwhelmingly affectionate like Blaise. She might actually like him."

Harry growled and balled up his fists. Draco Malfoy deserved every punch Harry could throw at him for thwarting Hermione's romance with Blaise, for causing the two of them misery. It simply was not Malfoy's business to break Hermione's heart like that, especially when he wasn't the one taping her heart back together. The pair glanced at the set of shelves Harry stood behind, obviously having heard his snarl. They didn't seem to see anything unusual and went back to their notes. Malfoy may have been nice during the recent months, but this goes to show that a rainbow never changes its colors.

The exit doors practically flew open from the force Harry exerted on them. He didn't know whether to tell Hermione or keep it to himself. On the one hand, he believed that if Blaise was so stupid as to listen to Malfoy, then Hermione was better off without the boy. On the other hand, if he told Hermione, then she and Blaise could work things out.

In the middle of this thought, he suddenly crashed into Ginny. He clutched his nose as it started bleeding, and thus plugged it and stared at the ceiling. He could taste the blood in his mouth.

Ginny winced and held her head. "Sorry, I thought you were going to move out of the way, but you were moving really fast. I didn't really have time to get out of the way once I realized you weren't going to move to the side to avoid me." She gave Harry a funny look and waved her wand. Harry's nose stopped bleeding.

"Thanks," Harry said. "I'll see you later." He turned to walk away when Ginny grabbed his arm.

"Actually, Harry," she began, "the timing is rather good. I've been meaning to talk to you about something."

Harry faced her, noticing the way her eyes shifted left and right, how her fingers were fidgeting. Finally, she took a deep breath and let the words jumble out. "Harry, I like you, and usually, I wouldn't go for one of Ron's friends because I would be scared that it would be awkward. Hermione told me that I should go for it, let the chips fall where they may, and that she would deal with Ron if he got upset. You know, almost as soon as we met, I knew we would be really good together. I really like you Harry." She bit her lip in a way most other boys would think was endearing as she waited for his response.

"I think you should focus on someone else," Harry hinted as tactfully as he could, wishing he could trade all the Peanut M&Ms in the world so that he could escape. He promised he would never eat another one for the rest of his life as long as he could erase this moment from history.

Ginny's forehead wrinkled as if she might cry, but to Harry's relief, she seemed to have enough restraint to hold off. "You don't like me?" she asked, her voice raising a pitch every word she spoke. She crossed her arms as if to hug herself. "You're really nice. I think I could make you really happy."

"Ginny, you couldn't make me happy, and I'm convinced that I am the last person in the world that could make you happy. I'm sorry if I ever convinced you otherwise, but you could find someone better suited for you than me," Harry explained. He felt his stomach drop when Ginny began blinking furiously as if all the Mars Bars in the world depended on it.

"Okay," was all she said in reply before she walked away, possibly to find Hermione and sulk.

Harry felt like a jackass when he went to the kitchen and asked for two dozen Mars Bars and a packet of Peanut M&Ms.

In his mind, he cursed Ginny for confessing her love for him. He then proceeded to figure out which guys Ginny would be most happy with.


End file.
